Microsofts Tech Ed Focus: Empowering the IT Worker

At Microsoft's Tech Ed conference, CEO Steve Ballmer will address how the company is responding to business and work force changes.

ORLANDO, Fla.At the Microsoft Tech Ed 2005 conference here Monday morning, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer will kick off the show with a keynote highlighting how the company is responding to business and work force changes.
And while Microsoft is not expected to deliver any blockbuster innovations at the conference, Ballmer and company will provide updates on the investments Microsoft has been making to deliver solutions to empower developers and IT workers, as well as Microsoft partners.

Following Ballmer on Day 2 of the conference, Paul Flessner, Microsofts senior vice president of server applications, will give a keynote address on Microsofts Connected Systems strategy and how core Microsoft products will play in that strategy.

Key to Microsofts strategy around empowering the IT worker and the enterprise is enhancing security. And Ballmer is expected to announce the availability of Microsoft Update and Windows Server Update Services, as well as the upcoming availability of Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.0 and the Systems Management Server 2003 Inventory Tool for Microsoft updates by this summer.
In addition, the Redmond, Wash., software giant will release Version 6.0 of Windows Update, which adds enhanced usability, sources said. And the product will support Windows Genuine Advantage.
Microsoft also will highlight new, Microsoft-sponsored research showing that users have experienced more efficient and secure computing on Windows as opposed to competing systems. In addition, the study conducted by Wipro Ltd. shows that the majority of the organizations who participated in the survey said managing security updates for individual Windows machines took 40 percent less effort than alternative platforms.
Will users trust Microsoft to manage and secure their PCs? Click here to read why Microsoft Watchs Mary Jo Foley says the answer is no.
Ballmer also will discuss mobility and enabling the mobile work force with "anywhere access," sources said, and he is expected to talk about how Microsoft will deliver a mobile messaging solution combining Windows Mobile 5.0 Messaging and Security Feature Pack and Exchange Server Service Pack 2, they said.
In addition, Microsoft is expected to shed more light on the Microsoft Office Open XML Formats the company announced last week, sources said.
Meanwhile, Microsofts development toolmakers are expected to deliver SDM (System Definition Model), a modeling language that enables applications builders and designers to IT operations staff to collaborate early on in the development stages of systems so that operational needs are taken into account, sources said.
In his keynote on Tuesday, Flessner is expected to talk about how SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk 2006 play together to deliver connected systems solutions. And Microsoft will have new Community Technology Previews of the products.
Moreover, Flessner will discuss updates to the Windows Server System Common Engineering Criteria, and show how partners have helped to move many of its key products forward, including SQL Server, Visual Studio, BizTalk, Exchange Server and MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager), sources said.
In addition, sources said Microsoft will highlight Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System, and Maestro, a reporting services and rich application data tool that will be available for SQL Server 2005.
Next-generation servers will take the stage at Tech Ed. Click here to read more.
Both Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 will be available later this year. Sources said the products are slated to be released to manufacturing by mid-October.
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Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.